Melbourne SOHS 2018 panel discussion: Auxiliary humanitarian system and localisation

‘At last ALNAP has gone down under’ was a quote John Mitchell used to highlight the significance of this day of firsts: the first time The State of the Humanitarian System (SOHS) had been launched in Australia and the Pacific Region, the first time both John and Paul Knox Clarke had visited the country, and the first time the SOHS and Sphere Handbook had been formally launched at the same event.

This was an opportunity to focus on the importance and impact of the SOHS report on the region, a context where less than one percent of humanitarian assistance is focussed on responding to communities affected by natural events but with relatively strong governments and good markets. 

Paul Knox Clarke highlighted that humanitarian responses in the region seem to be working through a very particular ‘auxiliary’ model. One which is characterised by a focus on localisation and coordination with national governments, with local organisations taking the lead and with the international system increasingly providing auxiliary support as opposed to driving the response. This ‘auxiliary’ model has the potential to grow and provide valuable lessons in exploring alternative ways of operating for other contexts. The region is also used to rapid large-scale crises and can be a focal point for how best to respond to these effectively.

Panellist Anthea Spinks from Oxfam also flagged the importance of the region as a focal point for understanding response to urban and dense populations, and how this provides a step forward into opportunities relating to addressing inequality as a core driver behind the inequitable impact disasters can have on marginalised populations. A key part of reducing structural inequality, according to panellist Leanne Marshall, from the Australian Red Cross (ARC), was the progress around localisation in the region: ‘While much of the focus has been on money it is more than this, it is about placing power in the hands of local actors.’

The localisation discussion also touched on timing of resources. The fact that this is still overwhelmingly centred on the emergency period limits the attention paid to baseline problems as the drivers of need. All of this is continually exacerbated by the limited data on impact across the system. Jamie Isbister took the ‘glass half full’ approach from a donor perspective, stressing that more resources are now going to early interventions. He pressed upon the importance of this approach for achieving sustainability and reinforcing the need to focus on work prior to and not just during a crisis. This was identified as the key to localisation approaches, which require transformation across decision-making, resources and ownership by national and local governments, organisations and communities, across the whole cycle.

This event summary was written by Phil Connors, Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership with Deakin University and Sophie Perreard, Senior Lecturer with the same institution.

Event details

This joint launch took place on 28 February and was organised and supported by Australian Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Centre for Humanitarian Leadership (CHL) at Deakin University, RedR Australia, Humanitarian Advisory Group (HAG) and Save the Children Australia.

The SOHS discussion was chaired by Dr Phil Connors, A/Professor in Humanitarian Studies and Director at the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, Deakin University and it had Sophie Perreard (Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, CHL) with Jamie Isbister (DFAT), Paul Knox-Clarke (ALNAP), Anthea Spinks (OXFAM) and Leanne Marshall (Australian Red Cross, ARC) as panellists.